Speech Translation Apparatus, Method and Program

1. A speech translation apparatus comprising: an acquisition unit configured to acquire speech in a first language as a speech signal; a speech recognition unit configured to successively perform speech recognition on the speech signal to obtain a first language word string which is a result of the speech recognition; a translation unit configured to translate the first language word string into a second language to obtain a second language word string which is a result of translation; a search unit configured to search for at least one similar example for each first language word string, and, if there is the similar example, to acquire the similar example and a translation example which is a result of the translation of the similar example in the second language, the similar example indicating a word string that is similar to the first language word string in the first language; a selection unit configured to select, in accordance with a user instruction, at least one of the first language word string associated with the similar example and the second language word string associated with the translation example, as a selected word string; and a presentation unit configured to present one or more similar examples and one or more translation examples associated with the selected word string.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a display configured to display each of the first language word string and the similar example, and the second language word string and the translation example, wherein the presentation unit causes the display to display a first icon indicating that there is an example associated with the first language word string and corresponding second language word string, if the first language word string has a similar example.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the presentation unit presents a list of a plurality of the similar examples and the translation examples if the selected word string is selected.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the presentation unit highlights both the similar examples and the translation examples if the similar example or the translation example is selected, and further presents a first notification to prompt a user to determine whether or not the highlighted similar example or the highlighted translation example is appropriate.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a storage configured to store the similar example and the translation example in association with each other.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the storage stores the similar example, the translation example, and an annotation for at least one of the similar example and the translation example in association with each other.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein if the first language word string has a first similar example and there is the annotation associated with the first similar example, the presentation unit causes the display to display a second icon in association with the first language word string and the corresponding second language word string to indicate that the annotation is available.

8. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the presentation unit causes the display to display a second notification to prompt a user to confirm the first language word string if the second language word string is selected.

9. A speech translation apparatus comprising: an acquisition unit configured to acquire speech in a first language as a speech signal; a display configured to display a first language word string which is a result of speech recognition successively performed for the speech signals, and a second language word string which is a translation of the first language word string; a detection unit configured to detect a location on the display indicated by a user; a selection unit configured to select, in accordance with the location, at least one of the first language word string and the second language word string; and a presentation unit configured to present one or more similar examples which are examples in the first language and similar to the first language word string and one or more translation examples which are translations of the similar examples in the second language, wherein the display further displays the presented similar examples and translation examples.

10. A speech translation method comprising: acquiring speech in a first language as a speech signal; performing speech recognition on the speech signal to obtain a first language word string which is a result of the speech recognition successively; translating the first language word string into a second language to obtain a second language word string which is a result of translation; searching for at least one similar example for each first language word string, and, if there is the similar example, acquiring the similar example and a translation example which is a result of the translation of the similar example in the second language, the similar example indicating a word string that is similar to the first language word string in the first language; selecting, in accordance with a user instruction, at least one of the first language word string associated with the similar example and the second language word string associated with the translation example, as a selected word string; and presenting one or more similar examples and one or more translation examples associated with the selected word string.

11. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising displaying, at a display, each of the first language word string and the similar example, and the second language word string and the translation example, wherein the presenting the one or more similar examples causes the display to display a first icon indicating that there is an example associated with the first language word string and corresponding second language word string, if the first language word string has a similar example.

12. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the presenting the one or more similar examples presents a list of a plurality of the similar examples and the translation examples if the selected word string is selected.

13. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the presenting the one or more similar examples highlights both the similar examples and the translation examples if the similar example or the translation example is selected, and further presents a first notification to prompt a user to determine whether or not the highlighted similar example or the highlighted translation example is appropriate.

14. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising storing, in a storage, the similar example and the translation example in association with each other.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the storing in the storage stores the similar example, the translation example, and an annotation for at least one of the similar example and the translation example in association with each other.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein if the first language word string has a first similar example and there is the annotation associated with the first similar example, the presenting the one or more similar examples causes the display to display a second icon in association with the first language word string and the corresponding second language word string to indicate that the annotation is available.

17. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the presenting the one or more similar examples causes the display to display a second notification to prompt a user to confirm the first language word string if the second language word string is selected.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium including computer executable instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising: acquiring speech in a first language as a speech signal; performing speech recognition on the speech signal to obtain a first language word string which is a result of the speech recognition successively; translating the first language word string into a second language to obtain a second language word string which is a result of translation; searching for at least one similar example for each first language word string, and, if there is the similar example, acquiring the similar example and a translation example which is a result of the translation of the similar example in the second language, the similar example indicating a word string that is similar to the first language word string in the first language; selecting, in accordance with a user instruction, at least one of the first language word string associated with the similar example and the second language word string associated with the translation example, as a selected word string; and presenting one or more similar examples and one or more translation examples associated with the selected word string.

19. The medium according to claim 18 , further comprising displaying, at a display, each of the first language word string and the similar example, and the second language word string and the translation example, wherein the presenting the one or more similar examples causes the display to display a first icon indicating that there is an example associated with the first language word string and corresponding second language word string, if the first language word string has a similar example.

20. The medium according to claim 18 , wherein the presenting the one or more similar examples presents a list of a plurality of the similar examples and the translation examples if the selected word string is selected.